re: Is Scott Phillips (American Woodworker) preventing new wood workers from learning proper Joinery ?

As others have pointed out, pocket screws have been around just as long as machine made screws have(~1820s—1850s), and maybe longer. Our cherry drop-leaf table dates to 1846-1856 and it uses pocket screws to mount the table top to the base. THAT said, I choose to not use pocket-screw joinery. I like M&T and dados, rabbets, an occasional dowel, and lots of glue… 8^)

Here is a link to my complete restoration and what I discovered while doing so:
http://horizontalheavens.com/SheratonCherryDropLeafTable.htm